


The Hunt for Red October

by Spaced Pastry (InterstellarToaster)



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: After the Rain Comes the Rainbow, Angst, Bittersweet Ending, Drama, Energon, Eventual Happy Ending, Fights, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Torture, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Nature Shows, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Occasional fluff, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Problematic Relationship, Robots Love Television, Soviet Union, Tagged Relationships aren't Major, Unreliable Narrator, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2018-10-22 14:43:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10699155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InterstellarToaster/pseuds/Spaced%20Pastry
Summary: Problem: You were created to fight a war you didn't believe in.Solution: Run away and begin again.If only it were that simple.





	1. Origami

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Grandpas_Cheesebarn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grandpas_Cheesebarn/gifts).



> Gift for Grandpa's Cheesebarn, who was very excited to have finally watched Transformers Prime and begged me to write something for them. It's been years since I've personally watched the show, and I only watched up to episode ten-ish, so my knowledge is rusty at best and a mess of the entire transformers wiki at worse. Recommended listenings: the entire Red Army Choir album.  
> This story shares no relation to the novel/movie of the same name. I just liked the sound of the title, sorry lads.

Вашими уста́ми, да мёд пить. I'd like to drink honey with your lips

 

"The Legend of Red October. Many historians regard it as little more than an old Wive's tale, much like Bigfoot or Ancient Aliens. But, what if this wasn't the case? Recent evidence suggests that no only was Red October real, but it was a key component in the Soviet victory of World War II..." The television announced, with pride and intrigue. A trio of enchanted faces sat glued in front of the television, watching intently.

That is, until it swapped to a commercial break, and all three groaned.

"Aw, come on, that's so lame," The girl bemoaned from her place on the floor, "Raf, you should just disable ads on this tv."

The boy known as Raf, four foot nothing, and ridiculously smart, spoke up from his own place on the floor, as he tinkered with a laptop.

"I think I could, Miko, but then it would probably just be a black screen until the show came back," He pointed out, moving some parts around and humming.

"Well, shouldn't Jack at least be working on his paper? Come ooooon," Miko whined, gesturing vaguely to Jack who was, as stated, pointedly not working on his paper. The man in question simply rolled his eyes.

"You try writing a report about a 'mystical soviet Super-weapon'. They don't even know what it was," Jack groaned, dropping the papers into a pile and putting his head in his hands.

"We could always ask the Autobots," Miko singsonged over the din of the commercials.

"I don't know if they'd know anything about Red October..." Raf shrugged apologetically as Miko got up with a twirl. She swiped the papers off the ground and slid on over to her guitar.

"There's no use in overworking! Come on, let's chill out and forget about these papers," Miko exclaimed, tossing the papers to the floor and strapped her guitar on.

"Hey, my papers," Jack whined lazily, shuffling towards them to pick them up. They scattered gently, settling in front of the ground bridge. Miko excitedly plugged in her amp, powering it up.

"W-wait!" Raf shouted, standing up anxiously, "they said not to-"

"What? I can't hear you!" Miko laughed, before strumming out one powerful mega cord. Instantly, the lights flickered, before a brilliant green portal opened. Miko turned to face it in surprise, while Jack stumbled, dropping his papers in his own surprise. Several drifted gently into the portal, disappearing from sight.

"My papers!" Jack exclaimed, this time with slightly more vigor, "we have to go after them!"

"Dude, this is the twenty first century. Why didn't you just use your computer?" Miko pipped in, sliding her guitar off and setting it back down. Raf showed up a moment later, staring intently into the ground bridge.

"We don't know where this could go," Raf trailed off, "and they said to stay here..."

"Oh come on Raf, lighten up! It'll be fun, like an adventure! Plus, it can't be far," Miko prodded, discarding her guitar and standing excitedly in front of the portal, "Last one there has to tell Prime what happened!"

The trio quickly jumped in, Miko, Jack, and Raf. Once they stopped feeling nauseous and looked around, they all realized, with sinking dread, that this definitely wasn't Nevada anymore. Of course, the raging blizzard was probably the first tipoff.


	2. Abandon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Journeying into the abandoned Soviet facility should have been their first tip-off that they might find something they hadn't wanted to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The more I write, the less sure I am of what the hell I'm even doing. Wonder what Jack did with his papers.  
> -Edit- oh, someone did some art for this. Check it: http://tyronetoastertime.tumblr.com/post/159898652847/i-couldnt-resist-drawing-this-for-a-story-i-read

В ти́хом о́муте че́рти во́дятся. It's the still waters that are inhabited by monsters.

 

"Quick, follow me!"

The storm whipped around them, like a snow globe thrown into a trash compactor. The wind was howling through their ears, and the piercing snow made any sort of visibility beyond a few feet nonexistent. Worst of all, the sudden drop from normal to below freezing temperatures, the chill easily biting through their clothes. Jack grabbed onto Miko's hand, while she grabbed onto Raf's, and together they slowly made their way into a cave entrance. Once inside, and temporarily safe from the blinding snow and chilling breeze, they let out deep breaths.

"We c-can't stay here for long," Jack said with chattering teeth, rubbing his arms furiously. Miko nodded in agreement, while Raf looked down into the darkness of the cave system.

"Let's go deeper into the cave, i-it should be warmer" Raf suggested, his breath a fine mist in the air. The trio, lacking any better plans, went deeper into the cave. Miko pulled out her phone, using it as a flashlight in the increasing darkness. On the upside, it wasn't quite as cold as before. At least there was that. Of course, until...

"Hey, what's that over there?" Miko asked, shining her flashlight over. It didn't reach very far, but a faint red light could be seen flickering in the darkness. The trio exchanged a look, before cautiously moving towards it.

"Is that..." Jack began, eyes widening.

"A tram?" Raf stuttered, hands curled under his arms. Miko shifted her flashlight around the area to confirm that it was, indeed, a tram. A hidden, underground cave tram, in remarkably well condition.

"A tram!" Miko exclaimed, bolting towards it.

"W-wait!" The pair of boys quickly ran after her. Eventually, all three of them made it to the mysterious tram. There was silence as they examined it, broken only by occasional shivering and shaking.

"Well, does it work?" Miko inquired, looking in the cabin. Jack shrugged his shoulders.

"Beats me," He replied, rubbing his hands together and willing heat to come to him.

"I think it should," Raf stated as he fiddled with the controls, "it looks like it's running on an external power source. I just need to find the right control."

"Right, because riding a mysterious tram deeper into an mysterious cavern is definitely a good idea," Jack snorted. Miko punched him in the arm with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, it's your fault we're in this mess. What's the worst that could happen?" Miko twirled, planting herself down in one of the seats and turning to face the conductor's cabin.

"Are we ready yet?" Miko called. There was silence, before a voice called back.

"Um, probably!" Raf replied, followed by the sound of metal moving.

"Why 'probably'?" Jack inquired, semi-curious as to why the boy genius would be struggling. Raf's head popped out a moment later.

"Oh, don't worry, I can handle it!" Raf smiled, still shivering, before returning to his work. A moment later, the tram shuttered to life, and they were off, slowly screeching down the cave system. Raf turned his chair to face the others, hands still resting on the controls.

"Eaugh, when was the last time they oiled this thing?" Miko scrunched her nose up as the wheels continued to whistle and groan despite their slow speeds.

"How often would you oil a secret underground train? Probably never," Jack replied with a snort. Miko stuck her tongue out at him, before pulling her phone out. She let out a groan of frustration and hit it gently several times.

"Still no signal. Where are we, the Arctic?" Miko grouched, still fiddling with her settings in an attempt to get any bars.

"Actually, I think we're in Russia. Or, Siberia even," Raf supplied helpfully, gazing curiously at one of several Russian posters plastered on the wall. There was a sudden silence that blanketed the group, filled with metal groaning and the gentle whoosh of wind.

"Oh, Siberia, yea," Jack agreed absentmindedly, with Miko humming in the background, "wait, Siberia?!" Both of them exclaimed in surprise, turning to face Raf. Raf shrugged sadly, pointing to one of the many signs on the wall.

"Are you sure? M-maybe we're in Canada, or-" Jack breathed out, until suddenly there was light, and the three of them shielded their eyes against the blinding white. When they reopened them, each gasped.

"P-positive," Raf whispered as wind slipped through the cracks in the tram. The trio hastily crowded around the lone cracked window, watching. Stretched out beneath them, at least a hundred feet or so, was a snowy white landscape, glittering in the evening light. Rocks were scattered about, with a mountain range in the distance, eclipsing the sun as it began to dig beneath the horizon line. A line of evergreens encroached at the base of the mountains proper, looking like little green matchsticks from the distance they were at. It would have been beautiful, save for the terrible blizzard still rampaging around them, breaking any kind of peace the scene may have had.

Suddenly, the tram began to slow, and they tore their attention away from the window and returned to look towards the front. Gradually, a gigantic, snow covered facility came into view, some sections crumbling under years of abandon, with cracked windows and discolored doors. Yet, it still stood proud, jutting out of the mountain it had claimed. The tram eased around a bend, slowly coming towards it.

"No way," Miko breathed, "a huge, abandoned building in the middle of Siberia? This is just like those old sci-fi movies!"

"Oh great," Jack groaned, "Now we can freeze to death in style."

"Guys, look!" Raf stopped their arguing and pointed to the facility that had grown into view. They could only marvel for a second, before the tram slid into the twilight-lit station and came to a stop. The trio cautiously stepped out of the tram car proper, standing nervously on the platform. A sudden crackling caused them all to jump, as a warped voice roared to life over the aged speakers.

"Приветствую! Этот объект был автономном режиме в течение 9.500 дней," A cheery Russian woman announced, voice overflowing with static from speakers dead with age, "Следует с осторожностью."

"Definitely not Canada," Miko whispered, walking away from the tram with the other two teens. The station around them was weathered by age, with wind blowing snow in from the open tunnel. The few windows on the side were shattered, and what little remained was iced over. The glass shards seamlessly blended in with the snow on the concrete, all sparkling in the setting sun. The crew spared it only a glance as they examined the rest of the room.

"Hey Raf, I think I just found some kind of generator! Maybe we can get a signal!" Jack called out, gesturing to a room off of the side. The trio crowded into the moderately sized room, humming and hawing. The generator stood prominently in the center, but several lockers lined the wall near the door, a handful of them open. Miko darted over to the lockers, while Jack and Raf went to examine the generator proper.

"Check it!" Miko exclaimed, pulling out a heavy overcoat and boots from the lockers, "these things look ancient!". True to her word, the clothing seemed to be out of a different era entirely, worn and well-loved Russian cloths.

"Yeah, and they smell ancient too," Jack grimaced, turning away from the offending items. Miko only stuck her tongue out, before continuing her search for adequate attire. Jack went back to fiddling with the generator. His knowledge of machines only extended to modern engines, this thing had to be at least twenty years old. Meanwhile, Raf was crossing some wires in an attempt to kickstart some power. Jack lifted his head back up and narrowed his eyes, walking to the corner of the room only to find two rusted gasoline canisters.

"Found some fuel," Jack stated, dragging them back to the generator and filling it up. Once both were in, Raf nodded, tying the final wire and the machine roared to life with power. The lights above them flickered on, illuminating the room. The same could be said of the tram station, as the sun finally disappeared, only for fluorescent light to take it's place.

"I wired it to transfer power to the entire facility, which should kickstart any other generators in the area," Raf stated as he closed the wiring box, carefully wiping off his hands on his pants.

"Catch!" Miko shouted, before tossing two pairs of winter clothing to the boys. Jack got a heavy wool coat and gloves, while Raf received a Ushanka and oversized scarf. Miko herself took a patched sweater, and what seemed to be a babushka's shawl. Anything was better than freezing to death, even if Jack's nose disagreed.

"Old generator, abandoned Siberian facility, ancient clothing..." Jack listed off as the trio reentered the tram station, "Seriously, what happened to this place?"

"Its...possible that this place was around from before the Soviet Union collapsed," Raf supplied, deep in thought, carefully adjusting his large hat.

"No way," Miko gasped, "That would be so awesome!"

"Less focus on the awesome, more focus on the not dying," Jack pointed out as the trio exited the station and entered the main lobby of the facility. The only natural light came from windows near the tram station, the rest lit with aging fluorescents. It was a large area, with extremely high ceilings at the top. A curved desk sat in the center, littered with decrepit technology that was once cutting-edge, and papers scattered across the floors. Flanking the desk on either side were two potted plants, obviously fake given their pristine condition. On the walls on the room were some nondescript benches with trash bins beside them. A Russian name was stenciled on the walls themselves, though no one in the party of three knew what it said. Aside from that, nothing else of interest could be found, aside from several corridors branching off at strategic points.

"That way," Raf pointed to the large set of double doors at the far side of the room. Judging by the lines on the floor, and even the setup of the room itself, the double doors led to somewhere important. The trio made their way towards it, meandering through the desolate and rundown lobby, until finally they reached the double doors.

"There's a keypad," Jack noted, tapping at it with a raised eyebrow.

"Allow me," Miko singsonged, walking up to the door itself. She stared at it for a moment, before giving it a firm kick. The old, rusted doors were no match for the brute strength of a young teenage girl, and as such flew open under her assault.

Beyond the door was a spacious corridor, extremely large in shape, with doors lining the sides, and an archway at the end. And, beyond the archway was yet another large area, with scientific marvels abandoned and rusted machines with once fantastical purposes. The trio journeyed deeper and deeper into the old facility, with different departments and various devices. The deeper they went, the more pristine and preserved the facility became, until it seemed as though it was never abandoned to begin with. Though, finally their adventure seemed to come to a head.

"This...looks important," Jack noted awkwardly, staring at the frankly enormous cargo bay doors. Several warning signs in Russian flanked the entryway, a few cheerfully adorned with skulls and lightning. Unfortunately, the bulkheads stood strong despite the ages, and no amount of pounding would ever open them, much to Miko's dismay. Fortunately, on either side of the walls there were a set of wooden doors, unlocked and open in a haste to exit. The trio exchanged only a momentary glance, before going into one.

"Mad science, much?" Jack whistled as they examined the room. It was a large, dusty laboratory, with chemicals still sitting unused on the shelves. But, surprisingly, in the corner sat an old computer, the screen flickering to life. Raf's face split into a smile as he rushed over to it, hoping into the creaking chair and scooting up to it. Miko and Jack shared a look, before following him.

"Whatcha got?" Miko asked, leaning on the back of the chair and peering at the monitor. Meanwhile, Jack began to look around the room. His eyebrows raised when he saw a slight in depression in the wall. He walked over to it, running his hands over the large yet suspiciously unoccupied space.

"I think that if I just..." Raf entered in several commands, small hands rushing over the keyboard. Just as Jack turned his head, Raf exclaimed, "got it!"

Suddenly, the depression in the wall flew open, causing Jack to stumble forward into the newly opened area. In the background, Miko laughed. Jack grumbled, rubbing his arm and looking around in the darkness. If he didn't know any better, he would say this was, "An elevator?"

"Woah, cool!" Miko chimed in, having entered the deceptively large elevator a few moments prior. Raf trailed behind her, looking a little proud of his handiwork.

"Yeah, I guess the only thing left is to try it out," Jack decided once the three were safely inside, ambling up to the elevator control panel and selecting the 'up' button. The dilapidated elevator groaned with effort as it hoisted the trio upwards, straining under it's own age and weight. For a moment, they worried the old elevator wouldn't make it, until finally it shuddered one last time and was still. Then, the doors slowly opened, and the trio stepped out, into yet another laboratory none the less. Though, this one was far more mechanical in nature.

Dismantled machines and various parts scattered the countertops, bits and bobs and other doodads. The disassembled constructs were all startlingly advanced, a sharp contrast to their surroundings. It even prompted the three teens to go and examine one of them. It was huge, but obviously complex, far too complex for the supposed timeframe.

"Heavy," Jack grunted as he tried to pick one up. Miko rolled her eyes and tried to take it out of his arms, only to stumble under the weight.

"Woah, this is..." Miko huffed as she set it back down, and the trio gave it the side eye, "...weird."

"Double weird," Jack whispered, as he and Miko stared down at their hands; they were covered in some kind of blue liquid. Jack let out a grumbled as he frantically tried to wipe his gloves off on his pants, while Miko 'discreetly' wiped her hands on the back of his coat.

"I think we've seen this stuff before," Raf stared at a puddle of the blue stuff as it pooled onto the countertop. It glowed faintly, even seeming to pulsate. Raf continued to stare intently at it, nearing some kind of breakthrough, when suddenly, Miko appeared.

"Hey, come on, there's another door!" Miko encouraged him with a clap on the back, though all it really did was stain his scarf that same neon blue from on her hands. Raf let out a playful groan when she ruffled his hair too.

True to her word, there was in fact another door, cramped off to the leftside of the room. But, beside the door itself was a set of double windows that peered off into an enormous space. Unfortunately, it was all coated in darkness, making anything impossible to see.

"It must be running on a separate power source," Raf explained in surprise, "which is...a little weird."

"Why?" Miko inquired, hand on her chin as she pondered. The blue was, unfortunately, still present.

"It means that whatever's in this room needs a lot of power," Jack stated in realization.

"Then, the only way to find out is to turn it on!" Miko exclaimed, like it was a challenge just waiting to be defeated. The boys didn't really have any good point to counter that, so they simply followed her into the next room.

This room had no frills attached, it was a command center without a doubt. Several monitors were spread out across the room, all facing a large set of glass windows that looked out onto the hangar. In the far back of the room, a few sets of breakers could be seen, along with a suspicious, glowing power rod that lay in a protective glass casing. The trio made their way towards it, careful to avoid overturned chairs and scattered papers.

"They must have turned it off before they left," Raf supplied, and none of them wanted to know what would have happened if it had been left on, "If we turn it back on, the power should come back."

"Right, let me guess, we have to touch the glowing thing to do it?" Jack sighed. Raf shrugged apologetically, "Okay, fine." Jack was grateful he was the one wearing the gloves, as he gingerly inserted the vibrant blue power rod into the slot. Once in, it hissed, before the opening closed automatically.

"Aw, gross, blue stuff," Jack whined, showing his gloves to the others. While Miko laughed, Raf's face scrunched up in thought...

"That's the same liquid from those machine parts!" Raf realized, "Which must mean they're some form of power. But, for what?"

The trio didn't have time to ponder that question before the power rod groaned. Then, a sudden surge of energy shot forth, and one by one the lights of the hanger bay began to light up, although it was still a touch dark. The team slowly walked towards the spacious window, in awe, as soon the entire hanger was brought into view. There were planes of all sizes, and massive parts of entire machines tucked away into small areas. Of course, all their childish awe was soon replaced by horror when the lights finally reached the area in front of them. Not terror, not fear, but horror.

Suspended in front of them, hung up like a butchered pig on a meat hook, for all to see;

"That's..." Miko breathed. Raf's eyes' were the size of dinner plates. Jack gulped.

"That's a transformer."


	3. Decay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At this point, none of them were surprised at yet another giant robot fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Liberal usage of google translate. I'm Italian, not Russian. I doubt an Italian robot would be nearly as cool to write. Translations provided at end of chapter, but you really aren't missing out on any important dialogue.

Кому́ война́, а кому́ мать родна́. For some, war is hell, for others, a kindly mother

 

The transformer was tall, 40 feet or so at least, a hulking figure of metal. They were painted red in a slapdash way, the red itself already rusting off to reveal a cool grey beneath. The only detail that really stood out were the etched numbers on their backplates, V-22.

As for the damages, one arm was cut open to reveal the delicate machinery inside, but it looked as though a saw had come and cut a swath out, messy and jagged. Their face was hidden from view, a battle mask and visor covering it, coated with blue stains long since dried. In fact, most of the armor was faintly stained with the vague blueish substance, which instantly drew Raf's attention to their clothing, and he quickly made the connection. 

"This is energon!" Raf squeaked, eyes wide with frightened realization and trepidation. Miko squawked and furiously tried to wipe the blue stains off, as did Jack, but to no avail. Miko groaned and gave up after a few moments, returning her attention to the transformer suspended before them.

"I feel so bad for her," Miko sighed drearily, resting her chin on a blue-stained hand. 

"It's suddenly a she now?" Jack needled. Miko rolled her eyes.

"Come on, you hang out with Arcee all the time. Can't you see it?" Miko huffed, pointing a finger to the transformer before them. True to her word, once Jack looked hard enough, he could see what she meant.

"They must've been using her for parts," Raf noted, the implication sending a chill down his spine. Miko and Jack both frowned again.

"How long do you think they had her?" Jack asked vaguely, not sure what he wanted to even hear.

"Long enough," Miko scrunched her nose up in distaste. For the three, with their own robotic companions, the thought of this happening to any one of their friends made the teens shudder.

"We have to take her with us," Miko decided, nodding firmly and turning to face the other two, her arms crossed in determination.

"What? Optimus would flip!" Jack shot back. 

"We can't just leave her here!" Miko retorted, "Come on, if this was Arcee, you wouldn't even argue."

At that, Jack was silent, because he knew she was right.

"Now, how do we turn her on?" Miko wondered aloud. Raf gulped and only pointed towards the large transformer before them. The trio watched as, slowly, she began to stir. First, a faint twitch. Then, as energon coursed through her once again, her movements became more pronounced, shifting, until finally her optics came online and her visor lit up with a glorious, electric blue. Though her arms and legs were secured, she still turned her head to face the teenagers. 

"Обозначение?" She inquired, with a surprisingly heavy tone. When the trio didn't respond, she asked again, "Обозначение?"

Jack, Miko, and Raf didn't have the faintest clue what she was talking about. At least, not until Raf popped up.

"Oh! I think she's asking for our names," Raf supplied, and the three of them nodded thoughtfully. 

"Er, Oboznacheniye...Raf!" Raf replied, pointing down at himself. Then, he pointed to Miko, who waved, "Oboznacheniye Miko!", before finally pointing to Jack, "Oboznacheniye Jack."

The large transformer was silent for a moment, processing and categorizing the information. Her programming told her to protect Soviet children, and protect she would. 

"Меня Обозначение Красный Октябрь." The robot stated. The trio only blinked. 

"I don't-" Raf began awkwardly, only for Jack to cut him off with a shout.

"What is it?" Both Miko and Raf asked worriedly. Jack only continued to stare in shock.

"That, that name means Red October."

"...how do you know?" Raf finally managed to ask. Jack managed to look minimally chagrined.

"I remember, from my paper. That means Red October," He recounted, before rounding on them, "Guys, this is the Red October!"

All three of them went silent. Jack's eyes flickered rapidly between the hulking transformer before them, and his friends at his side. Miko stared at the robot in what could only be called 'pure adoration', while Raf's surprise was nearly palpable.

"So. Cool," Miko whispered reverently.   
Without warning, the transformer, also known as Red October, shifted. Her visor slid up to reveal a pair of robotic optics, tinged with the same blue as her visor. She stared at the teens for a moment, before her mask slid away, revealing the lower half of her face. Then, she leaned forward towards the glass window, optics raised in concern. 

"Вы больно?" She inquired, her voice light and airy without the modification of the mask, her head tilted slightly. When the three didn't respond, she tried again, slower, "Вы больно?"

"Got anything?" Miko stage-whispered to Jack. He only shook his head sheepishly. Red October squinted, before trying again.

"En-er-gon?" She sounded out slowly, looking at the blue stains across their clothes. 

"She's...asking if we're hurt," Raf translated after a few moments. All three spoke up at once, with various hand gestures and motions. 

"No no, see-" Jack began, "We're totally fine-" Miko continued, "Don't worry!" Raf finished. Unfortunately, Red October did not speak English, and as such only heard frantic shouting and saw various motions. 

"Вы в опасности?" Red October demanded, struggling against her restraints. This caused the trio to panic, which caused Red October to panic more.

"What do we do?" Jack shouted, backing away from the window. 

"She thinks we're in danger!" Raf replied, also shouting. 

"Are we?" Miko asked, equal in volume. Both of the boys shouted a "No!" In response. Meanwhile, Red October had turned her attention back to the restraints on her arms. With a heave, she managed to pull her right arm from the reinforced holdings, the entire room groaning with effort. The other restraint was quickly dealt with, and she removed the ones on her legs without a moment's hesitation. Then, she returned her attention to the children, who were still panicking. Red October leaned down slightly so she was eye level, staring anxiously. After a few minutes, the three teens managed to calm down, and decided to stare back.

"Are-" Jack began, only to stop, as a loud groan echoed throughout the facility. It was faint, coming from somewhere near the entrance, and everyone froze. Red October's bristled visibly, before her visor and mask returned to her face with rapid speed. Then, she extended her hand, easily passing through the glass window like tissue paper. 

"Иди сюда," Red October requested. The trio exchanged wary looks, and none of them were eager to do whatever it was the transformer had asked. Miko shook her head with a shrug. Evidentially, no was universal, as the gigantic robot retracted her hand. One second later, a large, holographic map took it's place. It slid apart to reveal several layers, with winding hallways and elevator shafts. The three were confused at first, glancing at it, until it began to pulse, showing three red dots congregated around the same area.

"It's a radar," Jack noted, and Miko rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but of what?" She retorted. Raf decided to pipe in.

"It's the facility. See?" Raf pointed to the area they were at, "We're here. And, that," He moved his finger upwards, towards the red dots, "is the entrance." 

Seeing Raf point to the red dots, Red October spoke, "враги," She stated, stretching to word out to make sure they understood. The red markings flickered briefly, before they began to move. One stood at the entrance, one went inside, and one seemed to be going around the outside of the facility. The one inside had already begun to traverse at a startlingly rapid pace, delving deeper into the facility. Suddenly, the hologram shut off, leaving only Red October, staring expectantly, her hand outstretched. 

"Come on," Miko decided, beckoning the other two to follow her, "Let's do this!"

Carefully, all three walked onto the metal servo, to which the large transformer drew her other hand over and cupped it. Then, she slowly made her way into the dimmer, yet newer, section of the cargo bay. The father she walked, the more modern and advanced the planes became. It was clear to see that the hangar bay bulkheads opened at the back, as slight snowdrifts could be near the bottom, as well as wear and tear from years of abandon. From the way Red October was eyeing it up, she had some sort of plan.

"What is she doing?" Jack whispered loudly.

"Shhh!" Miko shushed him, pointing to the planes on the ground. Red October paced between planes and helicopters, deep in thought.   
Pausing, Red October stopped, standing in front of a VTOL. For a moment, the teenagers were confused, until she crouched down and gently placed all three beside it. Then, she stood up and stepped backwards, putting a good distance in-between herself and the plane.

"What's she doing?" Jack asked, repeating his question from prior. Again, Miko shushed him, only to add an "Didn't you already ask that?"

Red October's visor flashed with light, before a beam shot out, scanning the form of the VTOL. Then, various parts and plates on her body began to shift around, rearranging to fit her updated form. Once the first transformation was complete, she shifted into her new alt form, mechanics whirring around until, in her place, a VTOL sat, albeit one with a rusting red paintjob. The loading ramp slid out and open, waiting.

"Come on!" Miko announced, hurrying into the plane's bay. The others followed, sitting down on the floor as the doors sealed themselves. It was softly lit by dim yellow lights, as the transformer maneuvered into the empty space beside the larger VTOL, blending in seamlessly. Inside the cabin, the hologram from before appeared. This time, the dot inside was alarmingly closer than before, now only a few feet from the hangar itself. The one outside was nowhere to be seen, the only other one onscreen the lone dot guarding the doorway. They didn't have time to marvel before the dot at the hangar stopped, in front of the large bulkhead doors. The three teens only wondered what would happen, until there was a loud slam. They timidly peaked out, only to see that the metal door had been dented by a large fist.

"Oh no," Raf whispered anxiously, lowering his head, "is that a Decepticon?" 

"It must be," Jack replied, crouching down in the small cabin to decrease visibility. Another slam echoed throughout the large hangar, followed by another, as the metal was pummeled relentlessly. Finally, there was a loud, metallic screech, as a hole was torn through the door itself. Heavy footsteps could be heard advancing, rumbling the floor. The trio held their breath in fear. The footfalls neared their location, stopping in front of the hangar bay exit shield. There was a grunt, before the door was attacked much like the one prior, and a large area section. Then, they turned around, and decided to go back the way they came. Once it was determined they were gone, Red October transformed back, scooping the children up and hurrying them away from the newly opened outside doorway. She slid her mask and visor away, staring out. The blizzard was still there, blowing snow onto the reaches of the runway that extended beyond. She was at a loss as to what she'd do. So, she set the teens back down onto the ground.

"I changed my mind. This isn't sci-fi, it's horror," Miko stage-whispered, in a voice that was anything but quiet. The others laughed nervously. Their voices echoed across the metal, carrying down the hall, and that was when they realized their mistake. Evidentially, Red October did as well, as she leaned down to pick them back up. Unfortunately for her, she didn't have the chance before a wrecking ball collided with her face, throwing her backwards. She slid across the old floor, hands driving into it to gain purchase and slow herself. Her flight ended when she crashed into a rusted jet, the parts scattering throughout the area with a deafening shatter. 

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," The new visitor rumbled. The trio looked up in fear, only for Miko to squeal excitedly.

"Bulkhead!" She exclaimed, launching herself at him. He laughed a little, surprised, and the other two teens followed her lead.

"You're okay?" He asked, slightly worried.

"Yeah, we just-"

"Yходи!!" Came a deep voice from behind them. Bulkhead turned around, only to see the transformer from before sprinting towards him. She ducked down, deftly swiping the children from him, before sliding out of his reach, landing safely many feet away. She hastily released the squirming children, pointing to the ground firmly.

"оставаться," She demanded, before quickly backing away and running back to the fight. Bulkhead pulled out his wrecking ball, lowering himself into an attack stance. Red October stared at his weapon, before looking down at her own arms. There were trifold rotors on the outer part, and when she squeezed her hand into a fist, the rotor's joined together, in the form of one long melee weapon. She looked back up at Bulkhead, before shifting as well, drawing her weapons in front of her. There was silence, until Red October charged, intent to kill written in her stance.

"What do we do?" Miko shouted to the others as they witnessed the fight before them, "one of them is going to get, really hurt!"

"I-I don't know!" Jack stuttered, feeling powerless to stop these giant robots from killing each other. Miko tried shouting to get their attention, but if they heard her, they didn't notice.

Red sliced her blade downwards, narrowly missing the spot where Bulkhead once stood. He retaliated by slamming his wrecking ball into her side, sending her tumbling to the floor with a squeal of metal, although she quickly recovered. 

"умереть!" She spat, lunging forward and slashing him across the chassis. When she went in for a second attack, he blocked, sending her backwards before charging towards her. Red October jumped, launching herself up into the air. She grabbed his shoulders and pushed, throwing him to the ground while launching herself over him. While he struggled to get back up, she stopped, recovering her energy. 

"Guys, stop fighting!" Raf yelled, but again, none of the bots heard him. He turned to the others, "Red October is falling apart. She's either going to kill Bulkhead, or die trying. Literally," True to his word, a few parts had already lay strewn across the hangar bay, along with fresh patches of energon. They watched as Red October gripped uselessly at her arm, the same one the Soviet's had left cut open, which was now a literally falling apart.

"We have to call for backup," Miko decided, looking at the others. Jack shook his head.

"It looks like we don't have to," He stated, pointing to the figure that stood in front of the hangar bay exit doors, with snow billowing in, "Look, Arcee!" 

The small femme mech slowly walked in, assessing what was happening. All she saw was Bulkhead on the ground, and a mysterious robot on the other side, with energon splattered around. So, her reaction was quite logical.

"Bulkhead!" She hollered, sprinting over to him. Then, she snapped her head over to the new transformer, before letting out a roar and attacking. Red October flew to the floor, startled by the surprise assault. In the background, Jack groaned in defeat. 

"Get away from him!" Arcee snarled, striking the larger robot across the shoulder blades. Red October let out a mechanical yell of pain, grasping at her back, but Arcee simply jumped backwards and pulled out her blasters instead. Red October spun around, raising her forearms up to block the shots. Instead, surprisingly, the rotors on her arms spread back apart, before spinning rapidly, forming a barrier. When Arcee shot, the energy pellets were harmlessly deflected. Arcee quickly realized this, and so she switched tactics and retreated several steps to Bulkhead's prone form. Red October stumbled, faint blue energon slowly dripping down her faceplates. 

"I'll go get Bumblebee," Raf stated, and before anyone could stop him, the young boy was off, running behind the airplanes until he was safely back at the entrance. Then, off he ran.

Finally, Bulkhead pulled himself up off the ground, and Arcee hurried to his side, glaring at the enemy transformer in front of them.

"Launch me up in the air," Arcee commanded, pulling her melee weapons out. Bulkhead nodded, picking her and hailing her above her shoulders. Red October defiantly raised herself back up, pounding her fists together. 

"Now!" Arcee demanded, and at the command, Bulkhead let out a shout and launched her into the air, soaring towards Red October. But, then, she harmlessly jumped over her, leaving Red October confused. Until she heard the pounding of footsteps and looked forward, only to see Bulkhead's fist colliding with her face. She was sent barreling backwards with a choked sound, crashing into a plane near the two teens.

"We have to do something!" Jack blurted as Red October tackled Arcee, blade poised for the kill.

"Then do it, dude!" Miko shot back, and Bulkhead threw Red October off with a yell.

"Watch out!" Jack exclaimed. Miko scrambled back as Red October slammed into the floor right in front of them, skidding to a stop mere feet away. The two teenagers were horrified when she didn't move or stir. However, her visor still glowed with life.

"Stop!" Jack shouted, running towards Arcee and Bulkhead. Miko followed closely behind, waving her arms. Arcee and Bulkhead did, indeed, stop their advancing.

"Jack? What are you doing?" Arcee demanded as Jack stood defiantly in front of her. Miko ran up beside him, wheezing. She waved briefly as she caught her breath. 

"The robot...is so...cool," Miko managed to get out between breaths, before simply falling into the floor and wheezing. She gave a small thumbs up anyway. A moment later, Bumblebee appeared in the doorway, with Raf in tow. He waved, and Bumblebee chirped. 

"She's been kept here, for a while. They, uhm, used her for parts...," Raf explained as Bumblebee walked him over. He gestured to the unconscious Red October on the floor, and her arm still half open. 

"She could be a Decepticon," Arcee stated as she crossed her arms. 

Bulkhead shrugged, "She's right."

"Would a Decepticon try to save us?" Jack countered, and Bulkhead stopped.

"Is that what she was doing?" He asked sheepishly. Arcee slowly turned to face him. 

"You're kidding, right?" She dead panned. He nervously shrugged.

"Well, from where I was, it looked like she was attacking them. So I, maybe, attacked her first?" Bulkhead put his arms up defensively. Arcee put a hand on her head and just stood there for a moment, as if gathering herself.

"I can't believe you," She finally settled on, before turning to Bumblebee, "Let's radio Ratchet for a ground bridge."

She stopped, before looking down at Red October, adding, "and medical attention."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Обозначение: Designation  
> Меня Обозначение Красный Октябрь: My designation is Red October  
> Вы больно: Are you hurt  
> Вы в опасности: Are you in danger  
> Иди сюда: Come here  
> враги: Enemy  
> Yходи: Get back  
> оставаться: Stay  
> умереть: Die
> 
> Red October is a V-22 Osprey because I'm trash and I'd marry that plane if I could


	4. Caduceus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which they discover the supposed mythical super weapon is as awkward as a clam. Turns out that being violently reprogrammed by clumsy humans doesn't leave much room for social graces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What the flying fudge am I even doing.  
> This is how robots work, right? Probably. Wooo, foreshadowing.  
> I rewatched an episode, and Arcee blinked. Why do they need to blink? I don't understand.

До сва́дьбы заживёт. It will heal before your wedding

 

 

The group returned to the base without fanfare, Bulkhead carrying the unconscious form of Red October to the Med-Bay. Then, he and Arcee left to debrief with Optimus, both looking sufficiently chagrined as they exited the room. That left the teens with Bumblebee, who was worriedly fawning over them after their disappearance. 

Sometime later, Optimus Prime reappeared, looking deep in thought. He walked over to the medical bay, clearly intent on talking with Ratchet. Optimus entered quietly, and soon, faint wisps of conversation could be heard. Miko, being Miko, decided to eavesdrop on the conversation, sneaking over to the room and listening in.

"-dangerous?" Prime asked.

"She shouldn't be. I disabled most of the programming, but, the problem is, whoever did it was an idiot," Ratchet grumbled, wiping his hands on a towel, "There's still some left that I couldn't get. Well, not without frying her processor."

"Although, I did pull out some strange codes," Ratchet hummed, "I'll have to decode them later."

"How do you think she arrived here?" Optimus inquired, looking over to the transformer unconscious on the operating table. She looked odd without the battle mask and visor from prior. Ratchet hmmed for a moment, before shaking his head.

"Judging by the state of her parts, she's been here for a while. I'd have to say she was on an Energon mining operation, during the war," Ratchet decided, setting the rag down onto a nearby table. 

"Is she an Autobot?" Optimus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, she probably isn't a Decepticon, if that's what you're asking," Ratchet replied with a small shake of his head, "No insignia...likely a mass-produced model. Looks like the only way to know is to ask her yourself."

Ratchet turned back to the operating table with a curse as a sudden beep cut through the silence. He hurriedly picked up a tool, leaning down to fix several circuit components in Red October's processor. Optimus stood in the back, watching.

"Hand me that tool, would you?" Ratchet asked distractedly, gesturing to some tool a few feet away. Optimus smiled in slight amusement, shaking his head as he handed Ratchet the tool.

"Something fried her memory banks," Ratchet grunted in sight surprise after a few minutes of silence. Optimus bristled. 

"What do you mean?" He requested, wishing for some further explanation. Ratchet was quiet for a moment, concentrating on the surgery, before he spoke up again.

"When I was undoing the mess in her audio processors, I noticed some overcharged components," Ratchet clarified, tying off a wire, "that means someone went through the trouble of wiping her hard-drive, but they did it too fast. It overflowed into other sections," Ratched continued, examining, "which, it looks like, damaged her processor."

"Do you think it was the 'Soviets'?" Prime inquired, but Ratchet shook his head decisively.

"The day a human could manage that, is the day I lose my medical license. This is something else."

"Will she be alright?" Optimus asked after a moment, looking uneasily at the transformer disassembled before him. 

"I'll do my best," Was all Ratchet could promise, and with that, was silent. The only sound in the operating room was the steady hum of the spark monitor on the wall. Miko carefully slunk away, returning to the sofa where the others sat. 

Several hours later, Ratchet and Optimus left the Med-Bay, Ratchet looking more haggard than before. He disappeared off to another area, while Optimus entered the planning room, calling the other Autobots to join him. That was Miko's opportunity to sneak over to the medical bay, because she made excellent decisions on a daily basis.

The Med-Bay looked like it always did, full of parts and medical machinery. The spark monitor from before gently beeped in the background. Though, the main oddity of the room was the large transformer laid upon the medical table. 

"Are you awake?" Miko whisper-shouted to Red October. The robot did not stir. So, Miko decided to try and get closer, and shout louder.

"Red Octoberrrr!" Miko shouted, slightly louder than before. This time, Red October's finger twitched. Miko counted this as a success, and slowly began to descend from her perch on the medical counter. Unfortunately for Miko, she just so happened to carefully step into a slick pool of energon, sending her tumble through the air with a surprised squawk. 

System Reboot

Version V.22.6  
Initializing...  
Exception [V3] detected  
Initializing protocols...

There was a flurry of movement, and suddenly Miko realized that someone had caught her. She looked up in glee as Red October came into view. The large robot carefully brought her over to the medical table, setting her down so she herself could return to it.

"Primus, that was so cool!" Miko exclaimed, hopping around. Red October tilted her head.

"Are you...okay?" Red October managed, her voice thick with some foreign accent. Miko, however, was more excited that she had even spoke.

"You spoke! I mean, you spoke before, but like, you just spoke in English!" Miko stressed, awe in her tone. 

"Before?" Red October inquired. Miko's smile turned into a frown.

"Yeah, when you saved us?" Miko tried, staring at the robot. Red October shook her head.

"I don't remember," Red October stated, "...I'm sorry."

"Oh," Miko deflated, seeming to lose all the color from her person as she slumped in place. Red October continued to stare. 

"I will go to the nearest technical officer for immediate maintenance," Red October informed, standing up from the berth. Miko quickly shot up.

"Hey, you don't have to do that, it's ok dude!" Miko hurried, and Red October slowly sat back down, confusion in her posture despite the mask on her face.

"You are unsatisfied with my performance," Red October reminded.

"Yeah, but it's not your fault that you can't remember," Miko informed with a reassuring shrug, "It's cool, Red."

"Who is 'Red'?" Red October inquired, carefully looking around. Miko scrunched up her nose.

"Uh, you?" Miko replied. Red October didn't understand. 

"I am V-22 Titan Class Heavy, Aerial Attack Unit, Vulture Line," Red October specified. Miko thought for a moment, before blowing air out of her nose.

"Well, I think I'll just keep calling you Red October," Miko decided with a smile. Red October merely nodded. 

"Bulkhead, have you-" Ratchet began as he entered, looking at a datapad. He looked up in surprise when he saw Red October awake, "Oh, you're awake."

Red October flinched visibly, twisting to hide. Ratchet looked to Miko with a raised eyebrow. Miko waved. 

"Don't worry, I'm an Autobot medic," Ratchet assured with a nonthreatening gesture, "I just have a few questions to ask."

Red October nodded stiffly, carefully setting Miko down, all the while glancing anxiously at Ratchet. Once Miko was out of the room, Ratchet looked down at the data pad again, scrolling.

"Are you an Autobot, or a Decepticon?" He inquired. 

"I do not understand," Red October replied factually. Ratchet looked up, slight confusion written across his faceplate.

"Well, what do you remember then?" He continued, shaking his head a little.

"I remember being made. I do not remember after that," Red October stated, with an almost curious lift at the end. Ratchet looked even more perturbed than before, muttering to himself.

"Pre-war maybe? No..." Ratchet mumbled, typing something in. Then, he looked back up, "Well, missy, you're safe now. I'm going to run a quick diagnostics check, then you can go introduce yourself to the others."

Ratchet set down the data pad, pulling out some mundane tool and beginning the scan. After a few minutes, it beeped, and he set it down.

"Everything looks normal. Tell me if you have any pain in your servos later. Oh, and talk to Bumblebee about flying. Your wings have begun to atrophy, you'll need to regularly exercise them." Ratchet stated, stepping back and typing information into the datapad. Red October remained still, until Ratchet carefully shooed her away, "Go on, I've got work to do. You'll be fine."

Red October nodded warily, walking out of the room and entering the main area. Miko waved from the upper floor, and Red October slowly mimicked the gesture. She meandered through the base until she found the Autobots. Most of them stood around a screen, studying it intently. When they noticed her appearance, they all turned and stared. Red October stood at attention.

"I was told I should fly, with Bumblebee," Red October relayed, looking across the room. Her optics settled on one yellow and black robot, who was looking at her curiously. She blinked. 

"Greetings, Red October. I, am Optimus Prime," Optimus informed, walking up to Red October, "I am the leader of the Autobots," then, he began to gesture to others. 

"This is Arcee, our stealth expert," Arcee waved with a bored expression, "Bulkhead, our demolition specialist," Bulkhead rumbled out a greeting, "and finally, Bumblebee, our scout," Bumblebee chirped a hello. Red October mimed the gesture Miko had done earlier, blank expression still on her face.

"I am V-22 Titan Class Heavy, Aerial Attack Unit, Vulture Line," Red October specified. She paused, before tentatively adding, "Or, Red October. That is what Miko called me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack's report papers are on their own epic adventure right now, with an Italian robot probably.   
> I asked Grandpa's Cheesebarn for characterization help with Optimus, and all they said was "he's one hot dad". That didn't help me at all.  
> Next chapter will probably introduce everyone's favorite Decepticons. Cheesebarn said to call Soundwave 'daddy'. I'm not doing that.


	5. Andromeda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trouble brews in paradise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Golly, Red sure has a lot of questions about her past. It's almost like they're not telling her something. Wonder why.  
> I was reading some stories to get a better grip on the characters, and one of them turned into surprise smut halfway through. That was so not spicy. You have my word that this story won't transmogrify into some NSFW pile of shame. It'll just be good ol' fashioned normal shame.

Что име́ем -- не храни́м, потеря́вши -- пла́чем. What we own, we don't safekeep properly; when we lose it, we cry.

One whole week had passed since Red October arrived. Life went on as normal for Team Prime, albeit with one extra member that sat around watching nature shows all day. If she wasn’t watching television with the kids, she was in the medical bay watching Ratchet. What had once been unnerving became unnervingly endearing, though she was far from cleared for active combat. In fact, she was still struggling to activate her alt-mode. Bumblebee had taken to coaching her over the course of the week, but so far neither had anything to show for their efforts. 

It was one such night, calm and cool, the Nevada desert soothingly quiet. The only sight for miles was the occasional cactus and brown rock formations. Aside from that, the sky above was filled with countless stars, shining brightly like little sparks. Currently, Red October and Bumblebee were outside the base proper, standing on a small rock outcropping and looking outwards. From words of encouragement, to running starts, neither could seem to kickstart Red’s alt-mode. She worried that she would never know how, and the thought struck her with terror in the way that only a Seeker could know. 

"Could you show me one more time?" Red October inquired hopefully, yet slightly confused. She looked over to Bumblebee for some kind of answer. He responded by rapidly transforming, before transforming back. Red October watched curiously, optics shifting. Bumblebee beeped expectantly, but Red October merely shook her head and sat down on the rocky ground despondently. The pair sat in silence after that, until Red October pointed upwards. Bumblebee followed her path, until he realized she was looking at the stars.

"Tell me about...Cybertron," Red October requested. Bumblebee whirred in confusion, but Red October was unfazed.  
"What is it like?" She clarified, but before he could answer, she continued, "are there others? Why can we not go back? What happened to everyone?"  
Then, finally, she asked the burning question, turning to face him; "What is a Decepticon?" 

Red October was a V-22 Titan Class Heavy, which meant she did not ask questions. That was not a good thing to do, some deeply ingrained part of her processor warned against it. But, she asked them to Bumblebee. She felt that these ‘Autobots’ would not mind if she asked questions. 

"...--..." Bumblebee finally managed, trying to explain as best he could. But, Red October was not listening. She was simply staring back up at the stars. Far up in the sky, she could make out the faint silhouette of a bird, circling lazily overhead. As she watched, she felt an urge in her spark, something she could not place. It made her plates ache, like they were waiting for something. Red October furrowed her brow, stepping backwards and feeling the tremor in her plating. Carefully, slowly, she began to transform. Bumblebee chirped excitedly.

"!" He exclaimed, tilting his head a little as he watched her. The rotors slowly powered up, lifting her off the ground. Relief flooded her systems, and the relief seemed to carry her higher and higher into the air, the sensation of flight comforting and familiar. She had done this before, her processor whispered, and even though her memories of it were gone, the sensation remained. Red October continued on up into the sky, until the few clouds were below and it was just the stars, the moon, and her.

She transformed and outstretched her arm, the starlight illuminating the metal of her plating as she hovered precariously for a handful of precious moments. A few sections of her red paint could be seen flaking away, years of neglect and a shoddy paint job. Little flecks of red were blown through the air by a faint breeze. A faint series number could be seen etched into her wingtips. The moment lasted for, well, only a moment, before gravity returned and Red October transformed back, beginning to descend down to firma terra. In the distance, the bird from earlier could be seen, hovering and staring. What should have been flesh was mechanical instead, purple in color, metal gleaming under the starshine. Laserbeak continued surveillance, before swiftly turning to return to base. In the distance, a cloud flickered suspiciously, growing larger as Laserbeak drew near. Soon, the illusion of a cloud dropped off entirely, leaving the true visage revealed. A large, deeply purple ship, with jagged edges and warp cannons mounted. This was a ship that had seen many battles, with the scars to prove it, and it would undoubtedly see many more. The Nemesis was a grave ship instead, but none so dangerous as the Cybertronians that inhabited it. Especially the one that stood expectantly on the outside landing area, watching Laserbeak intently as they neared. He outstretched one alarmingly slender arm, and the mechanical bird landed.

“Excellent work, Laserbeak,” Soundwave praised, voice in monotone with stolen audio clips from the ages. He turned and reentered the ship as he downloaded the surveillance footage off of his companion, walking the halls with purpose. He was the Decepticon Communication's Expert, Third in Command: Soundwave. And, judging by the recently acquired information from Laserbeak, he had news to deliver. Which meant he pointedly did not pay the chuckling Knock Out any mind, especially no to where he was leading Breakdown. Regrettably, he already knew, and part of him wished he didn't. 

Soundwave continued to walk down the darkened hallways, moving past squadrons of Vehicons on his way to the Main Deck, his footsteps a light and unheard noise. When he finally arrived, the doors shut behind him with a soft click. Inside stood the greatest tyrant Cybertron would ever know; Megatron, Leader of the Decepticons. Brutal, ruthless, and driven by a lust for power great enough to destroy an entire world.  
"Lord Megatron," Soundwave kneeled down, before looking back up, "I have found valuable data, that you should know of."

"Well, don't just sit there all day. Out with it," Megatron grunted, staring at a planning table in front of himself. Soundwave stood up, before projecting a hologram out in front of himself. Megatron turned to view it in vague curiosity. 

The hologram was of a Seeker, flying through the night air. Megatron scoffed as they bumbled around. Their attempts were awkward and inexperienced at best, dangerous and foolhardy otherwise. They were obviously a new recruit, though their aerial form was unique enough to peak his attention momentarily. Megatron didn't understand why Soundwave would show him something so useless and trivial. However, the surprise came when they transformed. 

"Soundwave, where did you take this footage?" Megatron demanded, narrowing his optics. Soundwave carefully explained as the video continued on, faint flickers of static occasionally breaking up the image.

"Several cycles ago, near the Autobot base," Soundwave informed. The transformer onscreen floated aimlessly, but Megatron's interested was directed towards the series number etched on her wing flaps.

"I didn't think any of those survived the war," Megatron barked out a laugh, and the Cybertronian onscreen turned to face the camera unknowingly. Soundwave grew still as their face drifted into frame, some misplaced nostalgia perhaps.

"What course of action shall be taken?" Soundwave requested, shutting down the hologram. Megatron tapped his chin, before a sadistic grin curled into his faceplates.

"Go and find the Vulture Unit access codes. I think we should have a surprise for our Autobot friends," Megatron bellowed, and with that, Soundwave bowed, before exiting the room. He trekked down the halls until he reached his own quarters, closing the door behind himself. Then, the little hologram from before flickered to life, paused on the moment their face drifted into frame. Soundwave stared at it, before shutting it off again, and continuing on with his work. Vulture-22, MIA, presumed KIA in the Battle for Delta. Probability of survival: minimal. Perhaps his statistics needed updated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be more action-y. I need more fights in my robot story, I'm sure Grandpa's Cheesebarn won't mind.  
> I should re-title this story to: my spellcheck doesn't like any of the Transformer names or terms and my screen is covered in red spaghetti squiggles.


	6. Echo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "This is Papa Bear, over. We have eyes on the target, repeat, we have a visual. Moving to intercept. Tag 'em and bag 'em, boys."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Despite my best efforts, I'm having Feelings ™ about Red October. Time to squash those out with _violence_

Гла́дко бы́ло на бума́ге, да забы́ли про овра́ги. (Л. Толстой) It was smooth on paper, but we've forgotten about ravines

"How are you feeling?" Ratchet asked. Red October shifted awkwardly, still not used to questions that inquired about her own opinion. 

"I am...fine," she decided, tentatively testing out the newly described 'feeling' words that Miko and the others had begun to teach her. 

It had been two weeks since Red October had arrived. The first week was bumbling and cautious, but come the second, everyone had slowly acclimated to having Red around. She meant well, though sometimes her methods lacked, and she looked at everyone as though they'd dissemble her for the most minor infraction. But, she was warming up to them, and soon enough, they too had grown to like her. The quantity of nature shows watched in the base had grown exponentially since she had arrived as well.

“Have you remembered anything new?" Ratchet requested, tapping data into the computer. Red October angled her head over to look towards the doorway. 

"There was snow, and red," Red October finally relented. The memory was slow, like sludge in her throat. She had another memory too, but this one was of sharp symbols on chest plates, and a smile like pilfered energon sweets. 

"Anything else about it, anything specific?" Ratchet further investigated, continuing to type but turning his head to glance at her momentarily.

"Cold," Red October muttered after a moment. Ratchet made a curious noise, but Red didn't seem to notice, fidgeting against the memory, ice wind blowing against her plates. She was alone, she couldn't remember anything but she was alone and- and she was going to die-

"Russia, when you crashed most likely," He muttered to himself, drawing Red out of her memory hole. Red October shifted, before he stood back up and looked at her.

"Your vitals are doing good. Check in with me, same time tomorrow," Ratchet waved her away. Red October stood up and left, entering the main room. Jack, Miko, and Raf, were there, watching something on the television. Bumblebee was also there, in the background. Red October slowly drifted towards them and sat behind the couch to watch as well.

"Oh sweet, I was wondering when you'd get out," Miko wrinkled up her nose and gave a peace sign. Red October stilled, before slowly raising her arm up and waving. She was getting quite good at it.  
"There isn't anything good on today," Jack grumbled lazily, flipping through channels. He stopped on one randomly, though perhaps that was because the remote died. 

"I'll get it," Raf replied helpfully, getting up off the couch to retrieve new batteries. Bumblebee followed closely behind him. 

"Russian, 1942. War has ravaged Stalingrad, and Nazi victory seems within reach. But, the Soviets have a trick up their sleeve...,". The introduction ended and the show began to play. The two teens blanched, turning to face each other.

"Change it, change it change it change it!" Miko wheezed, falling off the sofa and leaping towards the tv. Jack followed with a squawk. The television continued, unimpeded. 

"Over forty feet tall, with deadly weaponry. Their secret weapon was just that: a living, sentient machine, built to destroy," The screen flashed with a blurry photograph of some large, unidentified object, towering through the city, "They called it: R-"

"Got it," Jack stated as he unplugged the tv. Miko breathed a sigh of relief. Raf returned with the remote a moment later, confused by the commotion. Jack simply shrugged nervously, before turning the television back on and quickly flipping through channels. He somehow ended up stopping on a nature show. Red October tilted her head.

"What is that?" She inquired, staring at the large, fuzzy creature. 

"That's a bear," Raf informed helpfully. Red October nodded reverently as she stared. A bear. 

"Oh, sweet! I actually have to do a report on those," Miko noted with pleasant surprise, pulling out her laptop. She stopped, before nudging Jack in the side, "Don't you have one to finish too?"

Jack choked on his soda.

"I gotta go!" He shouted, jumping off the sofa and fleeing the room to find Arcee. Miko hummed at her computer.

"Lets go on a road trip," She decided with a grin. Raf turned his attention away from the screen to look at her.

"But, where? And also, why?" He asked, slightly confused. Bumblebee buzzed in the background, Red October continued to stare at the bears.

"To, the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest!" Miko announced, followed by a slightly less energetic, "because it's technically research."

Bumblebee turned to Raf in confusion. Meanwhile, Red October tore her attention away from the television.

"Will there be bears?" She asked with trepidation. She had never seen a forest. She could remember the Sea of Rust in her mind, but that was not a good place to be. The word 'forest' sounded much more friendly. Less deadly.

"Uhm, maybe?" Miko replied. Red October nodded, solemn. 

"I will escort you, if you require," She volunteered, "to protect you. From the bears." 

"Sure, why not," Miko decided, standing up triumphantly, "come on Raf, lets go!" 

"Wait, shouldn't we tell Optimus first?" Raf injected. Miko flailed her arms.

"Fine, but hurry up dude," She consented. Bumblebee leaned down to pick Raf up, before the two made their way over to the side room to inform Optimus Prime. That left Miko alone with Red October, and she had another question.

"Hey, so, since Raf will be riding with Bumblebee, do you think...I could ride with you?" Miko could barely contain her excitement as she bounced around. Red October tilted her head up slightly to look at the ceiling, as if she could see the sky beyond. 

"Of course. The bears will not suspect an aerial assault."

 

 

One half hour later, the group was suited up and ready to go. Miko had supplies packed with her, and was currently transporting them into Red October's cabin. There were quite a few bags. Red October wondered what could even be in them. Meanwhile, Raf and Bumblebee played a racing game. Bulkhead worried around the edge of their circle, glancing occasionally to Miko.

"Are you sure? I could come, you know, it would be fine," He reminded for the tenth time. Miko let out a dramatic sigh.

"Come on, Bulk. You have patrol, which you should totally be doing right now, and it's not like we'll be going far. It's like, an hour drive. Aaaand," Miko grew excited, patting the side of the cabin, "We have Red October. And Bumblebee. That's double the protection. Don't worry so much."

Bulkhead still worried. He worried so much that eventually Ratchet came by, holding a small device. He handed it off to Miko, who eyed it curiously. 

"That's a one-way optic image transmitter, and a two-way audio device," He informed her, "Have Red October place it on the side of her head when you get there. We'll be able to see everything she sees, and you can call for help the second anything happens."

That seemed to ease Bulkhead's anxiety considerably. The floor seemed relieved too, judging by the perimeter of scuff marks that Bulkhead had worn into the ground. Miko hummed appreciatively, tucking it away. 

"Got it. Catch you guys later!" She sang, stepping into the Co-Pilot seat up front. Bumblebee chirped his own goodbye, along with Raf. Red October rumbled alongside them.

Then, the pair was off, Bumblebee speeding down the road while Red October took to the sky. She maintained safe altitude, while never straying from her place directly above Bumblebee. Their destination was not far away, only a couple of hours at most. For most of the flight itself, Miko was talking animatedly, going a mile a minute about whatever she could think of. The only times she was silent was when any interesting natural features would come into view. It was a pleasant trip, and soon the group reached their destination. Slowly, Red October landed, letting Miko out so she could grab the bags. Then, she transformed. Moments later, Bumblebee and Raf arrived, following the same procedure.

"Alright! We're here, that way no one bothers us or sees you guys," Miko gestured to a map on her phone, before scrolling, "the website said we might be able to see some bears from a safe distance if we kept an eye out."

At the mention of the word bear, Red October's visor dropped over her eyes, lighting up an intense blue as she swept the area. 

"Don't worry, we're fine. You don't have to keep watch," Raf reassured. Red's visor stopped flashing, but she did not raise it. Miko pulled the device Ratchet gave her out of her pocket, before waving it at Red October.

"Do the thing Ratchet said to do," She reminded vaguely, handing the large robot the device. She handed the audio-only version to Bumblebee. Red October frowned at it, before pressing up against her audio receptor. It buzzed awkwardly for a moment, before crackling to life. A sharp, intense feedback blasted through it, causing both her and Bumblebee to squeal in pain. It ended in an instant, leaving the two of them stunned.

"Sorry, sorry!" Came the voice from the other end, "I knew I didn't calibrate these darn things right. Hello?"

"Ratchet, you broke them," Miko shouted upwards, throwing her voice so it would reach the device. Red October shook her head after a moment.

"I am functioning," Red stated informatively. She tapped the side of the device for a moment, before a thin HUD covered her visor. She could tell it was the camera mentioned before, and Ratchet hummed in appreciation. 

"Right, now that we're all super cool, let's get this started!" Miko exclaimed. The other three exchanged confused looks, before shrugging and following her.

The next few hours were pleasantly boring. They made marshmallows, a fascinating human food that also ended up stuck to Red October's wingtips at one point. They told stories, mostly human ones, as Red had none and Bee could not speak. They also sang odd songs, sometimes losing the beat entirely and diverging to something else. 

Red October kept a vigilant eye out for bears, but none had shown their faces. She felt a swell of pride that Bumblebee was doing such a good job deterring them. In fact, it appeared as though it worked on birds too, as recently the birds had stopped chattering and gone deathly silent. No buzzing of annoying, teeny-tiny insects either. It was as though the forest had gone into stasis. 

Red October lifted her head up when a rapid, shifting of plates recalibrated down her arm. The silence, it reminded her of the Sea of Rust. Perhaps, the forest was something dangerous after all.

"So, ok, do you see anything?" Miko inquired for the fifth time that hour, staring hard at the forest. No bears, not a peep. Raf shrugged sadly.

Red October stood back up to full height, staring around. Her visor had begun to ping gently. Why was it pinging? It had never pinged before.  
She didn't expect Ratchet to respond, realizing after a moment that she had been speaking aloud.

"What's wrong, kid?" He asked, a little worried. Red October heard, with her finely tuned audio receptors, the crunch of a branch, 200 meters away. 

"The area has gone quiet. Is this normal for forests?" Red October asked, tipping her head to look up at the sky. 

"Well, humans and the other animals love to chatter. They only go silent when there's something dangerous nearby, like a hunter, or even a bear. It's a survival tactic-"

Before Ratchet could continue, there was a loud sound. Red October's face dropped. 

"Not a bear," Red October stated, her movements stiff. She slowly unlocked the rotor sword on her arm, swinging it to lock into position, "Probable enemy contact. Multiple hostiles. Requesting orders."

Bumblebee noticed the sudden shift in stance in Red October. He stood up, walking over to her and prodding her side. Miko and Raf continued to sit around the fire pit, nonplussed.

"Enemy contact. Requesting orders," Red October repeated, her usually melodic and light voice dropping to a monotone staccato. Bumblebee's, perhaps wise, response was to immediately draw his weapons, inadvertently giving Red the confirmation she needed.

"Alpha Team, go! Bravo Team, flanking positions! Secure the exits!" Came the command from the forest. Bumblebee dropped down to an almost crouch, beeping rapidly as he contacted Ratchet. 

Now, Ratchet did not have to be told that something was wrong to realize something was wrong. He quickly rushed over to the groundbridge, hurrying to lock onto their coordinates. Meanwhile, an entire platoon of soldiers rushed out of the forest. In the distance, the sound of a helicopter or two could be heard, quickly zeroing in. 

"Open fire!" The commander shouted. The soldiers nearest began to fire upon the Autobots, focusing on Bumblebee first as he rushed over to the frightened teens. Red October diverted their attention by sweeping her blade through their ranks, some old yet familiar language clawing out of her mouth. 

"Умереть!" Red October yelled. A field of poppies at the forest edge grew tall, as fertilizer piled up around them. The soldiers left retreated for only a moment, before bringing out the long-range rifles. Red October fought on, undeterred. On the other side of the battlefield, Bumblebee sprinted, most of the enemy attention focused now on Red October.

He quickly scooped up Raf and Miko, transforming and dodging the bullets that whizzed past. 

"Groundbridge opening, get out of there!" Ratchet barked. Bumblebee shifted speeds, tearing through the dirt as he neared the ground bridge. Red October stopped, dropping her sword and sprinting towards the portal, taking up the rear. Bumblebee made it inside without a hitch. Red October did not.

"Fire!" The soldier leader commanded. Instantly, a yellow, lemon-sized sphere flew through the air, latching onto Red October's leg. After a moment's pause, it activated, delivering a shockingly large voltage of electricity to her systems with a sound not unlike the audio feedback from Ratchet earlier.

"N-!" She sputtered out faintly as she fell, collapsing with a resounding thud that shook the surrounding forest for miles. She did not stir after.

Meanwhile, Bumblebee stared at the groundbridge in horror, expecting Red to be right behind him. When the portal closed and she was nowhere in sight, he began to blare in alarm. Miko and Raf were no better. 

"Where is she? Is she gonna be okay?" Miko shouted, staring at the empty bridge. The base was in pandemonium. Bulkhead was worrying over Miko and Raf, while somehow arguing with Bumblebee. Bumblebee was beeping like a car alarm. Arcee was managing to fight with Optimus and Bulkhead at the same time. And then there was Ratchet, the only one getting anything done. Which meant, he pulled up the video feed from Red October's still streaming camera. The team all watched in mounting anxiety. 

Black armored trucks pulled into view, a helicopter descended. Soldiers with combat armor walked around, securing Red October's arms. A man with greying hair and a scar on his face crouched down in front of Red October's face, smirking like a cat that ate the canary.

"Color me impressed."

"Silas," almost all of the Autobots growled out. Silas looked momentarily surprised by the audio feed, before turning to the device still on the side of Red October's head. 

"Apologizes in advance, but I think I'll be borrowing your friend for a while."  
He walked over and plucked it off with a grin, and the screen went silent.

"It's M.E.C.H," Arcee stated in disbelief, "They don't know when to give up."

"Ratchet, focusing all efforts on pinning down her coordinates," Optimus commanded, turning away from the screen, "Autobots, be ready to leave as soon as we have her signal. We won't leave her behind." 

Though unspoken, the words settled across the room anyway, the blanket that suffocated the babe in the crib; not like cliff jumper. 

 

"How fascinating," Megatron drawled, watching the hacked video feed. The energon high-grade sat untouched at the table beside him. Soundwave shifted in the corner as he watched the moment when the V-22 unit collapsed.

"N!-"

The voice bounced around his processor, finding its home in one of his memory banks. The memory was dressed in purple and blue, the edges comforted with the calm of a summer storm. He hadn't noticed they were all gone, until ot was too late again.

"Lord Megatron, surely you can't think you're interested in this?" A silver seeker drawled from his place near the door of the room, watching the screen with a visible sneer, "The Vulture Units were all destroyed, and for good reason. Any survivors would have had to be treasonous."

"Starscream, I don't remember asking for your opinion," Megatron growled, narrowing his optics at the lanky Mech. Starscream quickly stumbled, bowing deeply.

"Of course, Lord Megatron. I was merely concerned," Starscream lied, dripping with false saccharine as he backed out of the room. There was silence for a moment, the video flickering unsettlingly.

"Soundwave, I believe it's time we payed our friend a visit," Megatron decided, standing from his seat with an air of confidence and cunning. He walked out of the room feeling triumphant, a smirk on his face, "We leave in five. Have those coordinates ready."

Soundwave bowed as Megatron left, before turning his head back to the videofeed. The console in front of him was forgotten momentarily until Silas’ infuriating smirk appearances on screen and underneath Soundwave's hands, the console cracked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're probably laughing at the lemon football that took down Red October. So am I, but that's what happened to Breakdown so that's what I'm gonna use. And also that kinda thing happened in the original transformers, which is still hilarious, so rip Red October you will be missed.


	7. Ignis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When playing with fire, do take caution not to get burned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: memory alteration without consent, body modification without consent. Silas is not nice.  
> There is some computer technical bullshit, pulled entirely out of my ass after I spent an hour trying to do any research. Sorry comrades.  
> I have more chapters finished but I don't think they're good so I'll probably finish this in like ten years from now when my standards are met.

Беда́ никогда́ не прихо́дит одна́. Trouble never comes alone.

 

When Red October awoke, she was aware of three things. The first was, she was being held down by restraints. The second thing was that the room was dark, and devoid of life-signs. The third, and most important, was that part of her arm was cut open. These three things made some ancient part of her processor fill with panic, some dusty corner yelling at her to get away, immediately. When she tried to find the source of the memory echo, she was left with a vague feeling of cold. 

Red October tugged at the metal bars restraining her, testing them. They were well engineered, sturdy, but she could feel them straining slightly with each pull. It would take effort, but she would be able to get out. That was progress.

"Good, you're awake," A human said as he walked into the room. Red October looked over, wondering who it was, though her friend-or-foe designation system beeped angrily, red alert flashing on her hud. There was small patch on the uniform that designated the human male as 'Silas'. 

After a beat, Silas spoke again, nonchalant, "You were difficult to track down. However, I'm sure you'll be worth it," He flashed a toothy grin that was the opposite of a smile. However, it seemed at home on his face, reminding Red October of someone half remembered, silver and tall.

One moment later, several more humans entered, wearing white uniforms and goggles over their eyes. They carried strange tools and devices, and as they moved towards her, alarms blared in her head. The restraints that had seemed so malleable before were now rigid and unyielding, as she frantically tried to break through. 

"Scramble that thing's data banks," Silas commanded with a wave of his hand. The various scientists only nodded, turning to their consoles. The ones close to her began readying their tools and instruments. Red October's optics flared, her mouth turned down. 

"Beginning procedure," One monotone voice stated. Red October yanked hard against the metal bars, her processor working overtime. She wouldn't let them take the one thing she had worked so hard to obtain. If, if she could activate the failsafes in time-

_Snow pelted the landscape, billowing wisps, ruined buildings in the background. She was cold, she was always cold, ever since she awoke in the snow. They spoke to her in fear, but they had fixed her, made everything softer around the edges. Her directives were simple now: save the city, protect Soviet persons, and kill the enemy. The wind was howling, the air was cold, but she approached the besieged city without fear. She was not programmed to fear. Her directives were simple now: Save, protect, destroy-_

/Engaging_Failsafe(1)...

"- still awake? Increase the-," A creature said. Human, her systems informed. Their clothing was unfamiliar, distinctly not-Soviet. Germans, then. Enemies. Red October strained her arms against the metal, bolts breaking off. She would not fail; Her people needed her. She was the only thing standing between them and defeat, that's what they had told her, and she wouldn't fail them. She couldn't. The failsafes-

_The world was purple, hard edges all woven together, sharp points jutting out in the landscape. It had once been a city, once proud, with towering buildings that reached the sky. Now, it was the seat of rebellion, of something darker and wrong._

 _V-22 sat on the edge of the city, watching a storm rage on the outer reaches of Delta. It was small, so far away, streaks in the sky. Behind her, the city was burning. She was sick of it.  
Fight after fight, war after war. They told her to fight, and she did. That's what she was programmed to do. But then, she saw the others. Saw their kindness, their hope, things she didn't understand but yearned for._

_She was one of hundreds, the Vulture-Class series of aerial attack units. They all walked, talked, and fought the same. But she wanted more, wanted that freedom the other transformers had. Autobots, they called themselves. She had only ever known them by the name Enemy, but that no longer fit the parameters. An enemy was someone vile, cruel, a threat to everything they stood for. These Autobots, they were not an enemy. They were hope, they were kindness; They were freedom._

_Behind her, the city burned. Soon, Soundwave would call them all back, and she would have to return, repeat the cycle over and over. Or, she could leave Delta, walk far past the storm that sat on the horizon and never look back. She could find the Autobots; she could be free._

_the reflection of a city overflowing with fire, Veeta's rueful smile was colored with honeysuckle and ash. She stood towards the storm burning the horizon, and walked-_

/Engaging_Failsafe(2)...  
"-wait, the data scrambler-" Someone shouted.  
/Engaging_Failsafe(3)  
/Run_Sub-Protocol [M-2-8] "Emergency Reboot"

The room was dark, she was held down, she was alone. But, she wasn't alone? There were creatures there, but it was wrong, everything was wrong; flashes of metal cities, winter-gripped landscapes, but she was in a bunker, dark, not alone like her memories said. Her processor hurt, enough to make her roar, enough to break the weak bands that held her as she rose.

"Take it down!" The creatures yelled. Little projectiles bounced harmlessly off her armor, and she quickly took out the ones closest. The smarter ones ran away, and soon the room was empty. She was alone. 

Alert: Data corruption detected  
Attempting to parse data...  
!Error!

"Stop!" V-22 groaned, gripping her head and doubling over. Her processor hurt. Where was she? Where were the others? She was in Kaon. She was in Siberia. She was in Jasper. There was a storm on the horizon, the city was burning. She was ten cycles old, she was ten thousand. She was a machine built to destroy, she was a machine made to protect. There was a conflict in her spark that drove her to pace the room, as if she was awaiting orders. 

Red October- or V-22, or whoever she was -looked up. A bang echoed throughout the bunker, reverberating through the metal and concrete corridors. There was a long stretch of silence, anxious and wary, until another bang could be heard. Louder this time, with screams and gunfire.  
An enemy was approaching, and she readied herself to fight. She would do what she was programmed to do.

The voice could be heard before it was seen, a steady monotone, deep voice slithering into the room like a snake.

"Access code: Akesel-2492."

ACCESS TO SYSTEM

Version V.22.6  
Initializing...

 

The robot that was once Veeta-22 collapsed onto the floor with a resounding thud, no fanfare or struggle as the command activated ancient protocols embedded in her processor. 

A slim, purple robot entered, tall as an oak tree on a Summer day, and nothing quite so comforting. He knelt down beside what was once Red October, as her optics flickered into darkness. Then, he rose up, gently taking her in his arms and leaving the room. Megatron was waiting, after all, and Soundwave would not disappoint.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmao don't get too attached to he'd last few chapters. Probably most definitely going to delete them later. And no, Grandpa's Cheesebarn, still not gonna call Soundwave daddy.


	8. Leviathan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And when the last Leviathan dies, darkness will fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this the end? Who knows. You tell me.  
> Abuse of Zalgo text generator because it is Spicy ™  
> Warning: super rad giant robot fights, don't read if you're allergic to cool.

Фарао́н горди́лся, да в мо́ре утопи́лся. 

The faraoh was proud, but drowned in the sea

 

 

Meshing Data...  
Error: Data Overflow!  
Attempting to parse data...  
D̢̡̝͇͚͕͈͓͎̔̇̆̽̇̿̑́͘̕ͅa̘̜̰̤̞̖̻̫̔́̔̇͂̐̂̚̕͝ͅͅt̡̡͈̞̼̬̫͖̯͉̾́̒͆̾̓͂̈́́̌ả̲̺͚̘̟̫͓͍̫̰́̀̿̒̐̆͆̒̎ ̡̥̹̟̖̳̼͖͉̓͋̓̃̔͛͌̈́̏̕ͅc̡̘͓̳̯͇͎̤̥̭̈́̈́̇̔̌̒͘͝͠͠o̹͓̣̟͍͔̫̜̐̂͐̇̑̈́̐̔̌͜͜͝r̜͇̥̰̭̼̫̬̰͇͊́̓̓̄̀̅̈́̕͠r̛̺͍͈̤͉̯͙̟̮̘̎̉̈̂̀̊͋͐͠ų͔̘̘̟̫̮̯̺̭͊̌́̉̈́͊̐̃̑̈p̢͇̤͙̩̰̲͖͈͉̈́̔͐̂̀̇̉͐̚͝ẗ̼̪̣̯̣̼̹̟̥́̔̀̈́̀̑̋̚̕̕ͅȩ̡̡͎̘̱̮̰͔͙̓̊͋̈́̈́͆̓͂̽̽d̢̨̢̛̺̥̬͙̗̣͙̋̈̅̓̈́̈́̈́̒̚  
... W̵̛̰͚͇͕̺̲͉͇̰͂̓̅́́̉̀͘͝ͅḩ̷̧̛̩̟̘͈͎̪͚̹̌̃͊̿̿̊̔̒̓o̴̡̨̯̬̳͖̠̰͍̹͂̈̏͐͐̐̒͊͘͝ ̸̧̢̤̹͕͈̦͎̫̞͗͊̐͊̏̈́̌̓̌̚a̵̡̠͍̠̟͖͚̠̖̟̓̌̇̿́̔͆͘͠͠ṁ̴̰̬͇̗̤̥͓̘͈́̓̒͑́̈̌̌̕ͅ ̶͚̯̬̞̦̰̝̓̅́̊̈́̏͂͗͑͜͠ͅͅĨ̷̢̧̻̰͇̜̜̜̪͙́̉̓̋͗̾̒̒̋?̸̡̛̰̰͓̠̳̞̜̟̆͂͌̒̅̆̅͗͘ͅ?̸̢̢̗͍̱͖̠̳̯̹͆̄̈́̀̆̈́̄͐̔̐?̸̧̢̘̩͍͎̬͙̯̣̇͋̈́̀̔͋͊̍̔͝

 

The base buzzed with chatter, anxiety springing up like poppies in May. Red October was gone, and when they went out to look for her, her spark signal had disappeared. No one dared think on it too hard, but the name Cliff Jumper laid heavy on their sparks, though it was never spoken. 

It had been a day. Red October had been with them for around two weeks, and without knowing it, they had grown accustomed to her. Perhaps, even liked her. And she had been gone for only a day, and a solemn blanket was draped upon them. Do not get attached, that's what they had told themselves during the war. But the war was far away and gone, and their sparks did not remember the lessons learned prior, until it was presented to them once more.

Despite this, let me remind you that the base had exploded with activity, and for good reason. I may have lied when I said they couldn't find Red October's spark signal. Lying by omission. Because, they had found her spark signal. Just recently, but very, very faint...

"Optimus, we've found something!"  
Ratchet rapidly entered a series of commands into the console, the screen scrolling rapidly as it parsed, processed, and relayed each line. Optimus entered a moment later, business written across his faceplate. 

"It's close. Jacob's field," Ratchet elaborated, the map zooming in on the blinking dot. The dot itself pulsed faintly, almost weak.

"Autobots, with me," Prime commanded, moving away from the monitor and standing in the center of the room. Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee entered. However, Optimus gave Bumblebee a sympathetic look and shook his head.

"I need you to stay here, Bumblebee, to keep an eye on the children."

Bumblebee made a series of sad yet acknowledging beeps, before leaving the room. Meanwhile, Jack, Raf, and Miko crept into the room, listening intently. Arcee, Bulkhead watched Optimus curiously, while Prime gathered himself. In the background, the map blinked.

"Ratchet has tracked Red October's spark signal to Jacob's field. We need to go and retrieve her, and quickly," Optimus affirmed. Ratchet walked out from behind the console, tapping rapidly on a data pad as he gestured to the computer screen. 

"The ground bridge is set to an auto lock, which means we have a ten minute window to find her and get out. Unless Bumblebee wants to recalibrate the groundbridge," Ratchet smiled dryly, before setting the datapad down and going to retrieve a medical bag. Arcee rose an optic ridge. 

"Is she hurt?" Arcee asked, glancing over to the computer screen. The dot blipped weakly. Bulkhead stuck his jaw out in what would be politely described as mulish. 

"I'd hope not, but I'm not willing to take the risk," Optimus replied. Ratchet reappeared a moment later, leading the group to the awaiting groundbridge. In the background, the trio of teens scampered back to Bumblebee, eager to relay the news. 

"Ten minutes, got it?" Ratchet restated, the brilliant green portal opening. The four quickly transformed and drove through, leaving the base empty, save Bumblebee and the three teenagers. 

 

Jacob's field was an expansive mass of desert, dry and barren of life, save for the occasional cacti. There were plateaus in the distance, with the oldest embedded deep in the ground, and far off in the distance the town of Jasper could be seen. Twilight had just begun to creep across the sky, weaving in dark swaths of violet with lighter shades of lilac. There was a wistful breeze in the air, just cool enough to be called pleasant. It would have been perfect, if not for the shuddering wreck of metal that lay prone in the center, propped up on a blue-stained rock. There was a drying pool of energon nearby, and a section of her arm had been cleaved off in a struggle. Red October twitched. 

 

Ḫ̶̛̭̠͚̳͍͓͔̥͓͗̉̌̎̏̊̐͑̋ỡ̶̧͖̥̯̠̩̝͈̤̥̈́̂̌͂͐̽̓̿s̵̛̳̞̖͙̮͕̤͖̞̈́͊͒͛́̉̌̉͜͠t̴̡͔̳̬̮̖̠͔̰̖̊͗̽͋̆̔̔̓̀̅i̴̢͙̞̘͙͓͖͉̭̝̐͆̐̔̀̈́͊̈́̑͝l̴̡̩̼̥͎̠̘̘̦͐͂͊̒̔̔̋͋̇̀ͅe̸̱̬̰̹̯̻̯̭̝̙͋̔̔̈̍͗͛̋͝͠s̷̢̡̢̘̬̜̟͕̥̠̒̐̽͆͐̒̀̈́̾̕ ̷̢̧̛̠̲̭͕̦͇̹̪̈́̓̄͂̀̓͐͝͝d̷̨̨̜̬͈̥̯̞̰̼̈́̈́̀̑́̃̊͒͘̕e̵̼͕̺̟̬̤̹͕͔̅̒̈́̇̑͊̽̈́̾͘͜t̶̢̛͈̰͍̺̖̣̭̐͋̒̄̓̌̈́͂̊ͅͅe̶̡̡͈͇͚̞͙̹̳̦̓̓̋̉͐̉̃̂̚͝c̶͓̫͇̖̘͖̯̜̬̦͆̍̔̑͗̓̑̑̚͝t̷͎̲̖̳̝̱̭̝̭̩̀̊̓̆̂̈̋͆͘͝e̴̻̺̝͎̹̳͈̦̜͗̽̑̏̒͑̑̌̀͜͝ḑ̷̬̙͇̮͙͓̭̤̫̐͛͗̄̋̎̓͗͠͝ ̶̧̝̳͍̖̪̜̬̭͓̍̈́̽̄̎̂́́̀̽  
̶̟͓̹̘̗̠̱̭͎̱́̓́̒̿̇̇̍͠͝P̸̢̼̯͉͇͎̯͍̘̆́̊̐͛́̈́́̚̕ͅl̶͙̮̰͉͉͚̭̝̰̀̔̊͊̀̏̃̕̚͠ͅẹ̵̡̢̝͉̦͍͖̟͉̍̍̅̓̌̅̒̋̄̕ä̴̢̱̹͈̟̳̹̖̱́̆̑̄̋͌̒͂̔͠ͅş̸̛̦̝͕͇̭̥̻̻̜̈́̐̈́͐̂͗͊̕͝ȩ̵͚̼̱͉̺̞̹͍͎͛̍̔̒͌̓̅̈͘͝ ̸̟̰̯͖̤͙̼̹̗̝̀̋͆͋͒͂͑̏͌̑ḓ̶̛̖͕̼̙̪̥̣̻̫̿̔̈̃͑̑̀͝͠o̵̢͔̠͍͙̯͓̳̙̔́̏̏͋͛́̀̒͋ͅ ̴̨̧̺̦̩̲͕͓̱͕͋̄͛͛̽͒̋̆̊̚n̶̙̝̝͓̮̤͈͍̳̮̍̿̓͂̍͐́̄͛̕o̴͔̩̪̳̜͓͙̰̳̪͌́́͂̿́̂͑̕͘ẗ̴̡̲̫̺̯̹̭̣́̈́̌͂̾̃̍͝͠ͅͅ ̵̨̧̦̰͈͕͚͙̝̹͂͛̽̃͆̀̅̄̅̚d̶̢͖͙͍͍̜͔̜̖̣̑͆͗̿̐͆͂̈́̽͝ǫ̶̨̻̳̫̼͚̖̪̜̀́̅́́̉͆̒̂̕ ̶̨̤͇̫͕̜͇̖͔̮̒͑͛̉̔̏̈̀̇͝t̶̨̼̖̦͎̯̥͓̯̙͌̅̏̋̓̐̒́͌̚ḩ̸̛̤̮̗̣͙͔̱͕͙̂̓̓̓͂̂̐̈͘i̷̢̪̪̦̭̘̖̮̾̄̓̐̊̔̑̅͊̚͜ͅs̸̡͉̹̱̱̯̲̳̣̲̋͐̎͛̿͐̿̈́͌̚  
̵͕͎̟̭̦͇̤̪̹̀͋́̎̓͛́̋̏̕͜ ̸̡̠̩̼̳̟̮̖̰͒̽̈́́͛͛̋̓̿͝ͅ ̶̨̱̙͉̗̼̖̹͉͖͂̌̀͋̔͌̀̕̚͝Ḧ̵̛͕̮̩̹̜̝̰͉̮̻́̃̓̾́͑̀̚͠ő̶̧̮͎̺̝̦̦̞̬̺̈́̀̾͑͑͠͝͝͠ṣ̸̨̛̣̜̺̬̥̤̙̅́̅̈́̿͛̾̕͜͝ţ̸̝̱͎̝͔̘̭̪͎́̇̆̈́̽̿̾̏̃͠i̸̖̖̦̜̹͓̥̙͇̼̽̓̃̆̅͆́̾̈́͘l̸̡̢̜̯̼̫̗̝̖̈́́̀̇͊̔̾̚͠͠ͅȩ̴̧͔̥͕̲̻̳̙̟̍̍̋͆̾͌͘͠͝͝ś̷͍̙̦͙̣̤͉̺̗̺͊͑̓͊͊̐̚̚̚ d̷̪̺̩̼̫̺͚̹̟̂̑́̽̐̌̋͆͜͠͝ẹ̵̢̭͈̲͎̤͕̄̃̌̋͆͐̽͘͘͜͜͠t̶̨̠̺̫͉̳̝̭͍̘̎̈́͛́̑͊̽̀̐̍e̵̢̺̟͈̝̱̭̫͚̙͂̎̿̃̑͂̑̈́̀̚c̶̬̬͎͓̱͖͇̮̘̹͋̔͑̉͐̿̍́͛̆ţ̸̛͙̖̹̳̲̫͍͚̱̈̀̄̎̌̀͗̀͊ẹ̶̜̞̙̣͙͈̦͓͖͋̈̌̓͆̍̋̋͊͝d̵̡͍͈̞̻͍̯̜̤̻́̉̈́̂͆̓̎̋̚͝  
̴̨̨͇̞̖̱͈̺̜̘̈́̃̃̍̿̑̓̀̈́͠ ̷̨̱͉̙͔̫͔̟̳̙̃͛͌͗̀̔́͊̊̀ ̴̡̰̹̹̦͓̦̼͎̺̑̓̑̑̓̿͑͗́͂P̴̢̢̝͙̣̻̞̮̟̈̄͒̅͒̑̈́̾͘̕͜l̶̨͉̳̝̪͈̪̩͙̋͌͊̈́͌̄̿̇̔̔ͅē̷̢͎͍̲̪̼̻̭̹̈́̇̓́̐͋͐͜͝͝ȧ̶̜̲̼̘̖̙͎̳͕̙̀̒̾͐̑̄̃͒͝s̵̛̱̹͎̥̯͓̥̮͓̫̆́̈̂͋̎̈͘͘ę̴̣̮̻̰̖̘̤͕̮̏̋̋̓̉͂̄̋̀͆ ̸̡̨̣̖̞̫̳͍͚̞̀́̀̎̑̔̈́̕̚͝ŗ̸̢̝̤̼̝̱̞̪̄̿̓̐̑̔̉̑̋͠ͅ.̷̨̧̺̟̞̳͙̼̙͍̃̂͒͊̈̚͠͝͝͝ ̴̩̯̯̼̺̮̱̟̭̲̏͒͗̓̀̽̉̈́̋͘

 

The groundbridge appeared without fanfare nor pomp, and one moment later the four Autobots exited, the portal itself closing noiselessly behind them. They transformed, only for Ratchet to sprint to Red October's moitionless form one second later. 

"Can you hear me?" Ratchet requested, crouching down beside her and hastily running through the proper procedures. Bulkhead ran up beside him, grabbing Red and pulling her up to get her out. Her head lolled sideways, her battle mask belaying no emotions even as she stared straight at Ratchet. 

"Run," She rasped. 

Then, before anyone could react, she had her trifold rotor blade sunk deep into Bulkhead's chassis. There was a nanosecond of silence, before, suddenly, chaos.

Red October fell backwards onto the ground, dropping like a marionette with her strings cut. Optimus began to run to Ratchet, as Ratchet quickly hauled Bulkhead away and tried to suture the bleeding. Arcee took one glance at the mayhem, and charged straight at Red October. Red October herself simply laid there, the energon running down her arm. Ever so slightly, she shook.

Given the pandemonium, that's when the Decepticons decided to show their hand. Soundwave dropped from the sky, landing in front of Red October and crouching defensively. Arcee stopped, glowering. 

"Back off," She growled, pulling out her blasters and leveling them at Red October. Soundwave sunk lower, and three hacking tendrils extended from his backplates, standing expectantly

"Negative."

There was a tense silence, until the ground shook with a slam.

Megatron roared in, slamming into Optimus and throwing the Autobot across the field. A platoon of Vehicons arrived with him and began to circle around Ratchet, dividing his attention between his patient and their safety.

"Excellent work, Soundwave," Megatron praised, stepping up beside Soundwave and glancing down at Red October. Optimus bounced back, tossing Vehicons off himself and throwing somewhat betrayed looks to Megatron.

"Megatron, what did you do?" Optimus demanded, barely managing to dodge a nearby strike. Megatron, of course, only laughed.

"I was merely reclaiming what was mine," Megatron replied, before charging forward to reengage the Prime. That left Arcee, fending off Vehicons from Ratchet. Soundwave cocked his head down at Red October, his voice a gentler monotone.

"Operation: destroy," He instructed, pointing a single digit to Arcee, before leaving to help Megatron. Red October rose up off the ground slowly, unwilling. Then, she lurched forward, blades drawn out in front of herself.

"Contact," She informed, slicing downwards. Arcee dodged gracefully and soared over the grey robot, a near replica of their battle during their first meeting. This time, however, Red October reached upward and yanked on Arcee's leg, slamming her back into the ground. The next stab missed by mere inches. The hesitation was still there, more pronounced with ever movement, coupled with stutters and lurches and jerks. 

"You have to stop this," Arcee demanded, as if by word alone Red October would be saved. There was no reply, only the sound of metal hitting rock.

"Request denied," Red October finally stated. Arcee, however, noted a slight twitch as she said that. 

"What would Jack say?" Arcee muttered to herself, dropping to the ground to dodge. Her voice must have carried, because Red October missed her next strike and stopped. Just for a moment, but she did stop. 

"Do you remember Jack? You do, don't you?" Arcee prodded with an angry frown. 

"Jack," Red October echoed, not shifting an inch from her stance. 

"And Miko, and Raf?" Arcee demanded with what might have been gentle if not for the sheer resolve behind it. Red October was still, before her face mask retreated, as did her visor. She stared at Arcee with tired optics, and suddenly Arcee could feel the weight of the world in that stare. She could feel a lifetime of fighting, of orders, never resting. Red October's gaze spoke, and it did not say "You can't stop me," It said, "You can't stop them."

Arcee took a step forward, and Red October remained still. Suddenly, a crackling emanated throughout the battlefield, the sound of a groundbridge opening. The ten minutes had passed. Just as Arcee began to walk forward, Soundwave stalked up behind Red October.

"Operation: termination," He commanded, voice harsh. Then, he stepped away, disappearing to continue his duties. Red October gave Arcee a remorseful look, before anything and everything died in her expression, and her battle mask and visor returned. She jerked forward, blades again pointed at Arcee.

"Contact."

 

"Bumblebee, come on, we can't just leave them!" Miko flailed, the monitor camera showing nothing good of the battlefield. Raf and Jack nodded in agreement, and Bumblebee was at a loss. Optimus had given him orders to stand down, but they would soon be overrun if Bumblebee didn't help. Jack, Raf, and Miko hardly needed to remind him.

Bumblebee turned to look at the groundbridge console. The automatic release was still set to ten minutes, but if he let it open, he could reset the clock and go help his team. Raf appeared at the control panel in a millisecond, calibrating the exact timing and coordinates. In thirty seconds, the bridge would open. On screen, it was clear that Ratchet and Bulkhead needed extraction. Bumblebee would go get them out, then remain with the others. The three teens clamored to go with him.

"I can't believe she'd hurt Bulkhead. She totally loved him! We have to stop Megatron, before he makes her even worse," Miko emphasized, clinging onto Bumblebee's leg. Raf looked up at his large guardian, gently swinging his leg and scuffing it on the floor. 

"If she saw you, it could help revert the malicious programming sequence," Raf supplied, eyes staring up imploringly. Jack walked up beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

"They're right. And I can't just leave Arcee there alone; we're partners," Jack stated firmly, looking more and more like a leader by the day. Bumblebee took in the three teens reactions, and the rapidly approaching countdown, before sighing and transforming into his alt mode. He opened his car doors invitingly, and the three children quickly pilled in. One moment later, the groundbridge opened in a miraculous swirling of green and blue. And with that, Bumblebee sped on through it.

 

"We're here to help!"

Arcee snapped her head over to the groundbridge, staring in disbelief. Jack, Raf, and Miko stood by Bumblebee, as the yellow Mech escorted Ratchet and Bulkhead on through the portal. Red October raised her head to stare, but her body continued to move on its own accord, swords slicing through a column of rock beside Arcee. 

"Arcee, hey, over here!" Miko exclaimed again, this time running straight towards the fighting pair. A frazzled looking Jack and Raf followed closely behind her, pulling her back. Red October's gaze remained on them, even as she pivoted through the air. 

"Hello?" She echoed distantly, the sound of it carried gently on the wind to Arcee. 

Bumblebee appeared then, ushering the the teens away. He made several hand gestures to the groundbridge that was still open, though not for much longer. By the looks of it, the three teens were refusing to leave.

"Bumblebee, watch out!" Optimus alerted, before he was hit with yet another blow from Megatron. Bumblebee dropped down into battle position, just in time for a Vehicons to tackle him. Several more of them pulled up, the remnants from Ratchet's fight, drawn towards the commotion and easy target. When Bumblebee threw the Decepticon off, two more took its place. Miko, with determination in her eyes, grabbed the hands of her two friends and sprinted towards Arcee. Unfortunately for her, Vehicons weren't stupid, and two quickly disengaged from Bumblebee to go eliminate the humans. 

"Scrap," Arcee cursed, ducking out of the fight with Red October to go retrieve the three teens. Red October wasn't one to accept defeat, and took the opportunity to throw Arcee to the opposite side of the battlefield. However, Red October's audio receptors twitched and she turned her head to where Arcee had been heading. The three children were there, running from two standard attack class units.

"Hey, watch it!" Miko exclaimed, narrowing avoiding getting squished. The Vehicons were not phased by her protests. Again, Red October twitched, until something clunked inside her processor.

_Programming Override  
Reengaging mission protocols _

Red October let the sensation wash over her, like a vat of cold energon had been dumped over her head. The world became soft around the edges, feeling familiar as her processor reawakened. There was a snap of cold against her plates, the drifting of snow, the color red. Save, Protect, Destroy.

"Нет!" Red October shouted, lunging at the largest of the two robots and slamming him into the dirt. There was a groan of metal as she dispatched him, and the second Vehicon was quickly dealt with in a similar fashion. Red October stood up, staring down at the three teens.

"That was so cool," Miko whispered reverently. Red October stood there patiently, awaiting orders or any updates. The mission objective remained the same. 

Raf walked forward a few steps, "Do you remember us?" 

Red October did not understand the question, beyond a few brief impressions in her memory banks. She trilled, slightly saddened.

"Uh, guys?" Jack spoke up, drawing their attention, "I think Bumblebee and Arcee could use a hand. And Optimus. Oh man." 

True to his word, Arcee and Bumblebee could be seen fighting the same battle on opposite sides of the battlefield. In the background, Optimus fared no better.

"Come on, let's go help them!" Miko announced, hitting Red October's leg encouragingly. Red did not move, blinking in confusion.

"Wait, remember when we first found her?" Raf muttered to the others, "She only did anything because she thought there was danger. Like right now. So if we could just convince her there was danger..."

"Then she'd have to help," Jack realized, understanding dawning on his face. 

"What are we waiting for then?" Miko prodded, before bursting out in a run to the other Autobots. Red October stood up and hastily followed.

Miko made her way over to Bumblebee, who was engaged with several Vehicons already. Then, she stopped, and shouted to gain their attention. 

"Over here!"

The moment the Vehicon's heads turned towards her, Red October appeared. She looked over from them, and then to Bumblebee. She didn't remember him, but she felt her processor hum in response. 

"оставлять!" She shouted, attacking the one closest. Miko gradually walked more inwards, forcing Red October to defend the small girl. Raf and Jack nodded encouragingly the entire time, until there were no more Vehicons left to destroy. 

"<3," Bumblebee chirped, turning to Red October. She smiled.

"I've got this one," Jack decided, rushing over to where Arcee was fending off a hoard of angry Seekers. Red October's head seemed to snap to Jack's position, verifying the threat, before abandoning Bumblebee to go to the young teen. 

"Now's not the time, Jack," Arcee grunted, taking heavy fire. She blinked in surprise when Jack walked past her, standing out in the open field and waving his arms. Like he was trying to attract their fire.

"What the slag are you-"

The first Seeker shot never came down, as a VTOL cut a swath through the ranks of the flyers. The remaining Seekers rapidly dispersed, and Red October transformed, landing on the ground with a thud.

"Back off," Arcee warned, stepping in front of Jack. Red October didn't even bother moving. 

"We have to go help Optimus!" Jack whisper-shouted to Arcee. The blue bot watched Red October warily for a moment, before transforming and speeding towards Optimus and Megatron. Bumblebee followed on her left, while Red October held back, watching.

It was a close fight, but it was clear that Optimus was not at his 100%, and thus would not last much longer against Megatron. Thankfully for him, support had arrived, and they quickly began to turn the tide of battle. Although Bumblebee and Arcee were busy dealing with Soundwave and his Vehicons, it was clear that Megatron was beginning to lose.

"How come she isn't helping?" Miko asked Raf, as they watched Red October lay motionless and bored. 

"We're not in danger," He specified, "I think."

"It's over, Megatron. Surrender," Optimus shouted, dodging a strike and landing one of his own. Megatron growled, barring his teeth as his optics glowed dangerously.

"Not on your life, Prime. Red October, attack!" Megatron commanded, looking back at her expectantly. She stared, blank, before returning to her position, head tilted up at the sky. Megatron balked angrily. 

"Soundwave, initiate the failsafe codes," Megatron growled, before launching yet another attack at Optimus Prime and returning to the battle proper. Soundwave stopped to look over at Red October. What Megatron had asked for was the self-destruct reset code, Ghana-12-NA. What he had not asked for was the blackbox safemode code, Yui-28-X1. If anyone were to question Soundwave, he'd say that in the chaos of battle, the order was unclear. But no one would dare ask, and so his actions went unimpeded.

"Failsafe code: Yui-28-X1," Soundwave relayed, voice drifting over to Red October like a gentle breeze. She turned and stared at him curiously, and over the din of battle it seemed as though the world narrowed down to just the two of them. Illuminated by the twilight, Red October's tentative smile was dusted with lavender and lilac. She had once told him his smile was like energon sweets, and he wondered, fleetingly, if she'd still say that now.

"Soundwave, no!" Arcee shouted, trying to push past a horde of Vehicons, “Red, get out of there!” 

"Failsafe code: Ghana-12-NA," Soundwave stated. The soft touch of lavender became a shadow of grey with the passing of clouds overhead, as all the color left Red October. There was no sputtering of electricity, no gigantic explosion or anything so extravagant. There was a soft fizzle, a slight twitch, and then a gentle click as her optics offlined and she quietly fell over onto the ground. There was, however, a gentle woosh as the panels to her spark chamber opened, and her spark began to stutter violently.

"Knock Out, open the groundbridge. It's time to leave," Megatron ordered, and one moment later, a purple portal opened several meters away. The few Vehicons left rushed in, followed by Megatron himself. Soundwave hesitated, looking back to Red October. If nothing else, he hoped-....well, that didn't matter now. Soundwave turned back and entered the groundbridge, and it closed a nanoclick later. 

"Evacuate the area, go!" Optimus commanded, as Red October's spark began to glow white. Jack, Miko, and Raf were quickly picked up by Bumblebee and Arcee as they sped away. Prime, however, did not. He remembered a young soldier approaching him during the Great War, with a very specific serial number etched on their wing tips. They asked for freedom, and so his team stashed them away on a mining ship and sent them off, one memory wipe later. He remembered them looking much the same then as they do now. 

Optimus reached out to them as they lay motionless on the ground, before gripping their spark chamber and he pulled. The spark roared with energy, before rapidly going dead silent, a blinding white light thrumming. 

"Now!" Prime shouted, and a groundbridge opened right beside him. The emptiness of space spread out, stars endless, and Optimus reeled back and threw the spark chamber as hard as he could into the breach. The portal closed a second later, and far above, nestled high in the sky, a flash of light could be seen, before silence. 

Through it all, Red October's body lay on the ground. Optimus lowered his head, leaning down and picking her up respectfully. He was a soldier, yes, but he was a leader above all else, and he would never get used to losing an Autobot.


End file.
